"Let's go!" Gneisenau yelled angrily as Cole and Natalie stayed hot on her heels. Gneisenau reached the top of a set of stairs and was met by a pitch-black room.
"Dead end." Cole said as he turned to head back down the stairs.
"No time to backtrack. I can feel the fleet beginning to shove off. We need to go now." Gneisenau snapped as she aimed her rigging at the wall and opened fire with a massive volley. The wall collapsed and they soon found themselves in an alley a bit further north from where they all entered.
"Get to the ship!" Gneisenau growled as she took off in a full tilt sprint back towards the area where her ship was engaging the Siren Drone fleet. Cole hurried behind her, carrying Scharnhorst on his back as Natalie took up the rear. All around them, Cole could see men from Nimitz's crew, along with all of the tankers that had survived, abandoning their vehicles and making a break from the friendly fleet. A nearby fallen radio was stuck looping a message from the Admiral.
"All hands return to the fleet, we are retreating back to friendly waters. We have done what we came to do." The message relayed.
"Looks like you weren't kidding." Cole spoke.
"Why would I? This is a battlefield, Cole Spirits. Not some walk in the park." Gneisenau retorted seriously as her rigging turned and obliterated a squad of German soldiers that were moving towards them.
"Just trying to keep things light…" Cole muttered under his breath as they made their way to the beach.
Isaac woke up to the sound of his radio crackling.
"Isaac… please can you come check on Yume? She's crying a lot." Nimi said softly as Isaac roused himself quickly before getting dressed in his armor. They were well over half way to Japan and needed to be ready for anything.
Tapping the side of his helmet, Isaac contacted Norfolk.
"I need a ride over to the Z-23. Yume is giving Nimi some trouble." Isaac spoke sleepily.
"Understood. I'll have Chief take you over since she is on board currently. She will be waiting for you on the bridge." Norfolk replied.
"Thank you." Isaac said as he walked as quickly as his tired body would let him. Yume had never given any of the wives trouble before, so Isaac knew this could be serious. And being this close to enemy territory, he could not risk her coming down with something that couldn't be treated at sea. He was too far away from the Philippines to make it safe to turn back. He had to push forward. These thoughts flew through his mind as he raced towards the bridge of the Norfolk, where Chief was waiting patiently for his arrival.
"Good morning, Admiral!" Chief said happily, earning herself a pat on the head from Isaac.
"Good morning, Chief. Keeping your weapon maintained?" Isaac asked as he smelled gun oil coming from her hands.
"Yes sir. Never know when I will have to use it, sir. Best to keep it in tip top shape." Chief said with a smile as she demonstrated the silky smooth action of Isaac's old sidearm.
"Good woman. Hey, I need you to get me over to the Z-23. Yume is raising a bit of a fuss." Isaac said.
"Understood. I would recommend a jacket, sir. The outside air is a bit nippy this morning." Chief said as she ran outside to prepare the yellow raft to take Isaac to Nimi.
"I should probably invest in a jacket. Maybe get a trench coat that can cover my armor when I head ashore in Russia." Isaac said.
"I will procure materials once we secure Japan, Isaac. I'll have one made for you by the time we reach the Bering Sea." Norfolk spoke from her desk on the bridge.
"Another all-nighter?" Isaac asked.
"Somebody has to do all this. Odin is busy helping the Bulins overhaul her vessel for the cold seas of the North, and you were blacked out in bed when I came to check and see if our course was correct. So I asked Odin if it was okay to run the fleet while you two are predisposed, since we left our Lieutenant Commander in the Philippines." Norfolk spoke pointedly.
Isaac smiled.
"I know… I'm sorry you had such a big weight put on your shoulders. I'll make it up to you, alright?" Isaac asked.
Norfolk sat for a moment before pulling him into a passionate kiss. Once she was satisfied, she allowed him to pull away.
"That is payment enough for me, for the moment at least. Go check on Yume. Don't want to keep Nimi waiting, do ya, stud?" Norfolk teased.
Isaac shook his head.
"I'm leaving now." He said as he headed for where Chief normally kept the inflatable raft.
Isaac and Chief pulled up to the hull of the Z-23 and quickly scrambled aboard. Isaac turned to see Shinano running towards the bridge.
"Wait for me, we'll go together." Isaac yelled after her as he ran to catch up to her.
Isaac and Shinano burst onto the bridge of Nimi's vessel.
"Is she okay?! What's wrong?" Isaac demanded of Nimi.
"I cannot say, Liebling. She just started looking really uncomfortable and began crying. I tried to calm her in the ways I have found that work for her... but she is fussing really bad." Nimi said as she tried rocking Yume, to no effect.
Shinano walked over and placed her hand on Yume's forehead.
Shinano smiled softly.
"Isaac, if you can record video from your suit... please start recording." Shinano requested as Isaac located the small panel of buttons beside his wrist gauntlet's projector, pressing the red button. A soft blue light engulfed the bridge of Nimi's vessel as the projector began recording.
"Okay... it's recording. What's going on?" Isaac asked.
"Nimi. You may wish to put Yume on the floor." Shinano said as she too took a step back as, one by one, an entire swarm of green dragonflies began to appear on the bridge, buzzing every which way and landing on different instruments and surfaces.
Nimi complied and laid Yume on the floor. Much to everyone's surprise, Yume began to float off the floor as clothes seemed to appear over her tiny frame, causing the blanket she was wrapped in to fall away.
A pair of wooden Geta sandals with Dragonflies on the straps appeared on Yume's feet. A mint green shirt and white bindings appeared on her hips and chest respectively. Like her mother, Yume's final article of clothing was a long Kimono, styled in mint green, dark green and white with Dragonflies and Sakura flowers strewn across the fabric.
On her tiny hips, appeared a small platform that contained miniature versions of her CIWS systems, one on each hip. Behind her back, and wrapping around her, a lime green ribbon of light burned to life. The thick ribbon took the form of a long flight deck with an 'H' painted on each end. All at once, the dragonflies in the room took flight and dashed towards the green ribbon that surrounded Yume. Floating behind Yume, three jade spheres appeared as the dragonflies settled into the area's around her, buzzing about and using the green ribbon as a rest area.
Isaac and Shinano couldn't believe their eyes.
"She... just formed her rigging." Isaac spoke, as if even he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
Yume's face softened as her beautiful purple eyes opened. Her black ears twitched happily and her tiny tails swished about as she looked at Isaac.
"Papa! Look!" Yume squeaked happily.
Isaac smiled as he walked forward, scooping up his daughter from her position, floating several inches off the ground.
"You're beginning to take more and more after your mother. You did good, Yume. Good job!" Isaac said happily as he used a free hand to wipe a tear from his eye. It wasn't thirty seconds later that the rigging faded away and Yume passed out in his arms from the expenditure of energy.
Isaac held his ear to her heart and relaxed hearing it return to a normal rhythm. Isaac looked at Yume and the clothes she had manifested.
"Such a lovely material. I think she likes green." Isaac said as Shinano came over and adjusted the kimono on Yume's body to better keep her warm.
"She seems to appreciate tradition as well. My sisters will accept her, if they haven't already. This makes me happy." Shinano said as she smiled, allowing a tear to fall as she rubbed Yume's cheek.
"They already do, you should know this. Yamato even said that Yume saved her life. This just brings her closer to the family." Isaac said as he and Shinano took in the fact that this too was a sign that their daughter was growing.